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In Memory

In memory of our friend and colleague Amy Branch

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Female fans normally know more facts about what’s going on than men do anyway. I’d say they’re a more intelligent fan on top of that. They normally know more about what we’ve done than we know about what we’ve done. --- Tony Stewart

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There are female fans who take apart engines and will take you apart if you have a problem with that; who are drawn to the danger and mystery of the sport; who watch races on TV to witness pure passion and unscripted emotion; who love the camaraderie of these family-friendly festivals; who feel the nervous anxiety of the lip-biting wives atop the pit boxes. --- Andrew Giangola “The Weekend Starts on Wednesday”

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing is a grassroots effort, currently a single-car team on a shoestring budget. With that in mind, Jennifer gives it her all each weekend and after a rough start to the 2011 season (see Jennifer Jo Cobb Stands up and Moves on) is making strides as a team owner for her No. 13 Ford in the Nationwide Series.

Plate racing, as we all know and see, can be particularly hard on a race car. Toto (a fond nickname for her Ford Mustang) was caught up in a twister at Daytona after the field checked up on a restart. Toto took a new oil line in the garage but was able to get back on track to only suffer further damage. On the final restart once again, the field checked up and Toto suffered further damage, the hood flew open and damage was severe.

Toto did not fair well at Daytona, as
seen in this picture taken by
crew chief Steve Kuykendall

Jen’s team has been scrambling to prepare Toto for future races. Working all weekend and through the 4th of July, the team is now ready to hit the track at Kentucky. Jen will also be running the Camping World Truck Series race as well.

If Cobb’s team had a second car, a mad dash would not be necessary. The funding for a second car is simply not as easy as it sounds. A car has been acquired from R3 Motorsports and graciously has been prepared by their team for Cobb to race Kentucky.

How did Jennifer pay for this … charge it! The new car was purchased on the team’s credit card, which leaves Cobb one month to pay it off. As she said, “I would never condone doing something irresponsible. We have secured funds that would cover that, however, we would be done racing. That would be the very last amount of money that we could use. You never want to run yourself into the ground. If this campaign is not a success, we don’t want people to think that we are acting irresponsibly or that we are condoning it. We have our final emergency fund so that when we exit this sport we don’t leave without our integrity.”

The campaign Jen is referring to is an idea started by some of her Tweetpeas (her Twitter followers) to help her continue to race. Fans of Cobb are asked to send just $10 to help Cobb continue her dreams; in turn, every dollar earned will be put directly back into the team.

An interesting fact I learned after speaking with Jen today: her team uses used tires each race. This weekend for racing both the Nationwide and Truck series, her tires will be swapped between the series. In my opinion, that shows true dedication of a racecar driver: racing with the little equipment the team can afford, going out each week and trying to bring home a decent finish.

For information, please visit Ten for Jen and instructions are on the site for how to make a donation.